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Sen. Barack Obama claims there has been only a "shift in emphasis," not "wild shifts," in his political positions. Many already know the list: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, NAFTA, public financing of campaigns, abortion, gay marriage, Social Security taxes, the death penalty and negotiating with rogue nations.Possibly one of the more remarkable changes has been his position on guns. But despite Obama's recent concession on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" that there has been a "shift in emphasis" on various issues, on guns he held firm: "You mentioned the gun position. I've been talking about the Second Amendment being an...

What else would you expect from a "community organizer?" Watch the video here.

"Now you have narco drug lords who are helping to finance the Taliban, so we’ve got to get the job done there, and that requires us to have enough troops that we are not just air raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there." Watch the video here.

For our money, the best line in Barack Obama's speech yesterday in Berlin came in the form of a quote from Ernst Reuter, the city's mayor during the period of the Soviet blockade and the American airlift, in 1948: "But in the darkest hour," said Sen. Obama, "the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city's mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. 'There is only one possibility,' he...

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden, D-Del., had previously told Meet the Press that "the reason Obama didn't hold a hearing on NATO, I chair the committee. Every one of those committee hearings are held at full committee." But today Biden decided to take his defense of Obama one step further, writing to DeMint that there have been plenty of hearings on European Affairs, they've just been held at the "full committee level." ~snip But Biden's letter brought attention to the fact that Obama did not attend two of those three hearings -- and for the third, on March...

The Obama campaign has issued a new statement blaming the Pentagon for Obama's controversial decision to scrap visits to U.S. troops and Rammstein Landstuhl military bases in Germany on Friday.Der Spiegel initially reported this morning that Obama had cancelled the visits without reason. Then as word spread through the political world after the story was first posted at Free Republic, Obama's campaign issued a statement saying Obama thought it would be "inappropriate" to visit the troops while on a campaign trip.After the McCain campaign issued a statement upbraiding Obama for snubbing the troops saying that it is never inappropriate to...

NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube get the skinny on the abrupt cancellation of Barack Obama’s visit to Landstuhl and Ramstein yesterday. The campaign tried to excuse it by claiming that it wouldn’t be appropriate to visit while on a campaign-funded portion of his trip, but that wasn’t the real problem. When Obama found out he couldn’t use the visit as a photo op, he canceled... In fact, those same rules applied for the CODEL trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. They serve to keep politicians from exploiting military facilities for political reasons, and to ensure that all visitors get treated...

The Pentagon said Barack Obama phoned wounded U.S. soldiers at Landstuhl Regional Medical center in Germany today a day after a firestorm developed over his cancellation of plans to visit the base and Ramstein Air Force Base.Pentagon spokeswoman Elizabeth Hibner told Bloomberg News that Obama was told by the military he could visit the bases as an offical but not as a candidate and without campaign staff.Obama chose to cancel the visit and instead phoned it in to the troops.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has taken his pander machine on the road around the world in an effort to demonstrate two points vital to the success of his campaign for the office of Commander-in-Chief… * That he is willing to step into the hot zone and confront facts on the ground as defined by military and security experts before setting his official international security policy in stone. * That despite a nearly blank résumé, void of any military or security experience whatsoever, executive or otherwise, he has what it takes to become the next Commander-in-Chief of the last remaining super-power...

In this incredible piece of video, Obama complains that FOX / FNC is on TVs at all military bases he visits. When told that FNC is available, as well as CNN, MSNBC, CW and others on Armed Forces TV so troops can chose what to watch, Obama then asks with a smirk "Well, isn't that the Commander In Chief's choice?" clearly implying that if he is elected president, FNC will be off Armed Forces TV and troops will not be able to watch it! Of course the message to the reporters was, "You had better be good, too." He already...

While Democrat Barack Obama continues to lead Republican rival John McCain in the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, the survey also reveals that voters have some serious misgivings about an Obama presidency. In the poll, 47 percent of respondents said they prefer Obama to win, compared to 41 percent for McCain. That’s the same lead Obama enjoyed a month ago. But when asked which candidate would be better when it comes to being knowledgeable and experienced, 53 percent said McCain and only 19 percent chose Obama. Asked who would be the better commander in chief, again 53 percent said McCain,...

Not every reporter covering Barack Obama's world tour is entranced by the words and imagery of the Democratic candidate. On Thursday's "Good Morning America," political correspondent Jake Tapper jabbed at Obama's overconfidence, describing the senator's July 24 speech in Berlin as "one the Obama campaign is billing at almost presidential. Even though he is not the president." Regarding the Obama plane, the ABC journalist also pointed out: "The American flag on the tail wing has been replaced by an enormous Obama O."

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/07/from-gi-in-afgh.html "FROM G.I. IN AFGHANISTAN - "WE GOT MORE THANKS FROM THE DALLAS COWBOY CHEERLEADERS" THAN FROM SENATOR OBAMA" This is from a USAF friend in Afghanistan: Hello everyone, As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to ' The War Zone ' . I wanted to share with you what happened. He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is...

Barack Obama, calling himself a "Citizen of the World," committed himself to reducing America's Nuclear Defenses in a speech delivered in Berlin, Germany, today -- a city ironically united because Ronald Reagan built up America's Nuclear Arsenal. This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and watch the further spread of the deadly...

(People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.) I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

With less than six months to go before he would be sworn in as the nation’s 44th president, Sen. Barack Obama has directed his aides to begin planning for the transition. "Barack is well aware of the complexity and the organizational challenge involved in the transition process and he has tasked s small group to begin thinking through the process,” a senior campaign adviser said. “Barack has made his expectations clear about what he wants from such a process, how he wants it to move forward, and the establishment and execution of his timeline is proceeding apace.” Last month, the...

This man must not be elected.

Leaving aside the fact that Barack Obama is not proposing any sort of "new strategy" for Afghanistan, what are the challenges facing the United States, Afghanistan and our NATO partners in stabilizing Afghanistan against a Taliban insurgency allied with al Qaeda that emanates across the border with Pakistan? Perhaps a brief history lesson is in order here. Tribal map of the region. The provinces of eastern and southern Afghanistan where most of the trouble is and the sanctuaries for the militants across the border in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) are the realm of the Pashtuns, fiercely independent tribesmen...

Now that Barack Obama has left Afghanistan and Iraq, where he was part of a congressional delegation, and is visiting the Middle East and Europe as a presidential candidate, most everything he does is being viewed through the prism of the race for the White House. Heading to Berlin later in the week, Obama will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and others. He is set to give a speech Thursday near the historic Brandenburg Gate, where Presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy all spoke. Obama’s speech could be delivered before tens of...

Last night Obama had to field an off-the-cuff question from ABC News: "If you had it to do over again, knowing what you know now, would you support the surge?" Well .. there was a small problem. This was not a question that Barack's handlers had prepared him for. He had no script. He had to ad lib, and for Obama that's not good. Sit down folks. Here is Barack's answer. http://boortz.com/more/video/072108_obama_abc.html See if you can make any sense at all out of this. Remember, this is the man who wants to be our Commander in Chief responding to a...

The Sen. John McCain campaign launched a new Web video titled "Obama Love" that takes a swipe at the perceived media bias towards Barack Obama. According to the campaign e-mail, the video "highlights the media's love affair with Barack Obama -- or as MSNBC's Chris Matthews says, that thrill going up my leg." Played to the tune of Frankie Valli's "Can't take my eyes off of you" -- one of Valli's most popular songs. Perhaps, it will turn out to be a hit for McCain as well.

As part of a month-long aircraft makeover, a painted American flag was removed from the tail of Sen. Barack Obama's official campaign airplane and was replaced with the presidential candidate's trademark "O" symbol.

For Mr. Obama, all the world is a stage, with a fawning press cheering him on. Grim theaters of battle where America's bravest fight and die to bring order out of chaos are but dramatic backdrop. It's been a breathless torrent of dispatches since Mr. Obama departed on the overseas tour that will magically bestow foreign policy credentials upon him.Obama backers and the press (but I repeat myself) insist that Iraqi PM Maliki's apparent embrace of a 16 month timeline proves that Obama was right all along. This assertion is illogical and selective. Obama has been relentlessly pushing the...

Tonight ABC aired their interview with Sen. Barack Obama with correspondent Terry Moran conducting; here is a clip of the segment that ran on ABC's World News Tonight: Moran: If you had to do it over again, knowing what you know now, would you support the surge? Obama: No. Because, keep in mind that -- Moran: You wouldn't?

Last night on Anderson Cooper 360, two CNN political analysts charged that Senator Obama overstepped his authority as a United States Senator in acting as a negotiator with the Iraqi government and publicly disclosing statements made during those interviews. During an interview with Anderson Cooper, David Gergen, CNN's Senior Political Analyst stated,...

President Obama already? No vote first? July 22, 2008 STEVE HUNTLEY shuntley.cst@gmail.com The way Barack Obama is acting, and the way the news media are reacting, it seems like the candidate and his adoring press corps have concluded the election of the Illinois senator as the 44th president of the United States is a foregone conclusion. Take his trip to Iraq. It was billed as a congressional visit (a couple of other senators tagged along) but, as the Washington Post observed, "in many ways, from the red carpet rolled out for the group at [President Nouri al-Maliki's] residence, to his...

Barack Obama recently finished a $500,000 total overhaul of his 757. And as part of the new design, he decided to remove the American flag from the tail. What American running for President of the United States would remove the symbol of his country? And worse, he replaced the flag with it with a symbol of himself. Photo of plane reprinted with written permission of the photographer.

Here is video of Barack Obama from Iraq,in an interview with ABC News, saying he would NOT support the "Surge Strategy" if he had it to do over again! This is the very "Surge Strategy" that has undeniably transformed Iraq. But Obama says he would still oppose it because . . . well, just because . . . (see video) Obama opposed the "Surge Strategy" when it was announced, and said it would make things worse . . . (see video) Obama continued to oppose the Surge Strategy, even after it was underway and said it was making things worse...

If you were President of the United States, how would you treat a staunch, lonely ally committed to liberal democracy and free markets-the only such country in an increasingly anti-American region? A friend surrounded by hostile neighbors who harbor terrorists bent on its destruction, flush with oil money and weapons from the region's maniacally anti-American and anti-Semitic dictator? A people regularly extorted through terrorist hijackings, murders and kidnappings? A country which faithfully shares invaluable intelligence with the United States regarding subversive anti-American groups and governments in the region?

(snip) Now Barack Obama is about to embark on his own Feats of Strength.Maybe that’s why, back home in Chicago, he worked out three times on Wednesday. An Associated Press report jokingly compared his fitness regime to that of Mr. Universe and marveled at “a distinct lack of visible sweat on the Illinois senator.”But even the perennially cool Obama may sweat this summer. In the next six weeks, he will have to successfully complete a number of tasks, some that he set up himself after being taunted by John McCain, some spawned from slaying the Clinton machine, and some that...

NYT Poll: Obama "Not Likely" to Be Effective Commander-in-ChiefBy Floyd and Mary Beth BrownFrontPageMagazine.com | 7/21/2008 On the night of January 20, 2009, a new commander-in-chief will leave the inaugural podium, parade, and festivities for the Oval Office. A national security staff ready with the latest “threat briefing” will join him there. On his desk, they will place a thick binder of reports, each focusing on real or emerging threats to our national security. In the quiet of the Oval Office -- in the presence of these stern-faced, deadly serious briefers and advisers -- Barack H. Obama, should he...

Remember the 3-o'clock-in-the-morning test--Hillary Clinton's dig at Barack Obama's commander-in-chief credentials during the primaries? As Obama heads to Europe and the Mideast this coming week, he is embarking on what might be called his "Ich bin ein Commander" test. It may well be the decisive one of his candidacy, especially with so many media stars--including three network anchors--along for the ride. One major reason why Obama's opponent, John McCain, has managed so far to rise above the public's grim assessment of the Republican Party is that, for many voters, he has already passed this test. Even though Americans think by...

The Washington Post runs a devastating editorial against Obama's current position on Iraq: Barack Obama yesterday accused President Bush and Sen. John McCain of rigidity on Iraq: "They said we couldn't leave when violence was up, they say we can't leave when violence is down." Mr. Obama then confirmed his own foolish consistency. Early last year, when the war was at its peak, the Democratic candidate proposed a timetable for withdrawing all U.S. combat forces in slightly more than a year. Yesterday, with bloodshed at its lowest level since the war began, Mr. Obama endorsed the same plan. After hinting...

Arrogance + Inexperience = Disaster

Iran test launched salvos of missiles capable of reaching most of the Gulf region, Israel, US forces in the region and parts of Europe last week. Senator Obama was asked if he were President and such rockets were shot off what he would do. He explained Bush era failures accounted for the aggressive Iranian action, He then said he would gather intelligence. Then he would reach out, and engage in “tough diplomacy” with Tehran. So there it was, blame America first. But some went beyond the “whose to blame” story and asked a rather reasonable follow-up question. Wouldn’t the Iranian...

I am a VHCM member, I spent 12 months in Vietnam (147th CH47-CE) as most of us did. I am also a disabled veteran; I have been a wheelchair user for 35 years now. A few months ago I went to listen to Barack Obama at a local college. When he was done with his speech I got in line to ask him a question. When my time came, my question was: ' Senator Obama ; I work with disabled veterans throughout the VA Hospital system, what is your plan for our veterans, especially our disabled veterans who use the...

U.S. should use all tools to pressure Iran: Obama Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:59am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Tuesday preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon was in America's vital interests and vowed to use all tools to pressure Tehran. "No tool of statecraft should be taken off the table," Obama said in a speech covering broad national security issues, including Iraq and Iran.

(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday called the war in Iraq a "dangerous distraction," and said more emphasis must be placed on the battle in Afghanistan. Sen. Barack Obama said he would take the country in a new direction, should he become president. "As should have been apparent to President Bush and Sen. [John] McCain -- the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was," Obama said in what his campaign called a major policy address on Iraq, Afghanistan and national security. Obama said part of his new strategy will be "taking the...

If you think that Muslims burning the Danish Mohammed Cartoons don't have a sense of humor, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Just wait til the Political Correct Commissars catch you laughing at Barack Obama. It's like the old rabid feminists: That's Not Funny! Mr. Obama is very easily offended, like Don Quixote, the Man of La Mancha, who is constantly looking for the smallest slights to his egg-shell fragile ego. Obama told Maureen Dowd early in the primaries that he is hypersensitive to any remarks about his ears. Obama is offended if you criticize his tough-as-nails lawyer wife -- although...

Barack Obama's campaign scrubbed his presidential Web site over the weekend to remove criticism of the U.S. troop "surge" in Iraq, the Daily News has learned. The presumed Democratic nominee replaced his Iraq issue Web page, which had described the surge as a "problem" that had barely reduced violence. "The surge is not working," Obama's old plan stated, citing a lack of Iraqi political cooperation but crediting Sunni sheiks - not U.S. military muscle - for quelling violence in Anbar Province. The News reported Sunday that insurgent attacks have fallen to the fewest since March 2004.

With all the reporters covering the major presidential candidates, it amazes me no one ever seems to ask the right questions. For several days now, WND has been hounding Barack Obama's campaign about a statement he made July 2 in Colorado Springs – a statement that blew my mind, one that has had me scratching my head ever since. In talking about his plans to double the size of the Peace Corps and nearly quadruple the size of AmeriCorps and the size of the nation's military services, he made this rather shocking (and chilling) pledge: "We cannot continue to rely...

Since losing the 2004 presidential election, John Kerry and his supporters have continued to claim "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak out against John Kerry" and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have been "discredited" for spreading a pack of lies about Kerry's military service in Vietnam and his subsequent leadership in the anti-war movement....

If John Kerry had been elected President of the United States in November 2004, especially with the incoming majority Democrat Congress, it is highly likely that Iraq would be in the midst of a civil war, Iran’s regional influence would have increased, Israel would be in more jeopardy than it is now, two Supreme Court seats would be occupied by clones of John Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg instead of by John Roberts and Samuel Alito, judicial decisions would have given even more “rights” to enemy combatants, domestic entitlements and earmarks would have skyrocketed, the Bush tax cuts would be...

This is the most important book you’ll buy this year: To Set The Record Straight, How Swift Boat Veterans, POWs and the New Media Defeated John Kerry, by Scott Swett and Tim Ziegler, with Forward by John O'Neill. Not only will you learn the inside details of the only book – Unfit For Command -- that ever decided a presidential election but, especially for those who have any doubts, you will learn about how the peoples' democracy can still work in the United States. For those inclined toward political science, the book is an important contribution to understanding how political...

You're a swiftboater, I'm a swiftboater, everybody's a swiftboater. The all encompassing phrase for any political zapping; real, potential, or imagined, has been funneled into one label, swiftboating. No longer used much as a noun, this verb has become overused to the point of triteness and acceptance as appropriate English. Language is the child of overused slang Ain't that the low-down!? For the record a review of who and what actual swift boaters stood for is in order. They took umbrage when fellow swiftie, Senator Kerry, decided he was going to run for president as a gung ho war hero....

”His boat took 188 enemy hits”: Another Kerry Swift Boat story surfacesBy Fedora During the 2004 campaign, John Kerry faced a firestorm of controversy over the events surrounding the awarding of his third Purple Heart and his Bronze Star. One inconsistency investigators noticed was that although military documents described Kerry’s Swift Boat team as facing “about 5000 meters” of enemy fire while travelling down a 75-yard-wide stretch of the Bay Hap River, there was no record of any bullet damage to craft or crew. Not publicized in 2004 was another discrepancy magnifying this issue: while Kerry was making his first...

Former U.S. Rep. Bill Zeliff is joining Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign. A source in the campaign told UnionLeader.com that the former Jackson innkeeper “will help with federal and New Hampshire issues as an adviser and will help raise money in Washington, D.C.” Zeliff, a Republican, was first elected to New Hampshire’s 1st District U.S. House seat in 1990. He left the House after three terms and ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for governor in 1996. Zeliff has been a Washington lobbyist for the past 10 years, currently employed by The Livingston Group, headed by former Republican Rep. Bob Livingston...

RUDOLPH Giuliani, the flamboyant former New York mayor, suffered a personal embarrassment yesterday when a judge ordered him clean up his private life. A court overseeing the politician’s divorce case ruled that his two teenage children can no longer to stay at his Manhattan home while his girlfriend, Judith Nathan, is sleeping there. Judge Judith Gische said the overnight presence of Ms Nathan, 46, would have a detrimental effect on the youngsters - at least until the conclusion of Mr Giuliani’s battle with his estranged wife, Donna Hanover. In an eight-page ruling she concluded that Andrew, 16, and Caroline, 12,...

...While many Democratic movers and shakers in the film industry felt they owed Clinton their loyalty, there was a gnawing feeling that it would be no simple task to get one of the most polarising political figures of our times back into the White House. ....Of more concern for Clinton's campaign, her prospects against the likely Republican opponents have grown bleak. Less than a month ago, she was running in a virtual dead heat with the leading Republican, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has yet to declare his candidacy. The Rasmussen and Zogby polls taken last weekend have...

"A Senate hearing that began with glowing tributes to a St. Louis businessman and his qualifications to become ambassador to Belgium turned bitterly divisive Tuesday after he was criticized for supporting a controversial conservative group," the Associated Press reports from Washington: Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., grilled nominee Sam Fox about why he donated $50,000 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth during the 2004 presidential race. . . . "Might I ask you what your opinion is with respect to the state of American politics as regards the politics of personal destruction?" Kerry asked near the end of the hearing...